When pregnancy overlaps with incarceration, trauma histories, or systemic discrimination, care decisions become deeply influenced by power imbalances and stigma. These intersecting challenges often leave vulnerable populations facing significant gaps as they navigate pregnancy and childbirth.

How can we rethink care approaches to reduce this stigma and address the trauma and systemic inequities that exist? What does truly respectful, integrated perinatal care look like for everyone?

In this episode, Santis Health, in collaboration with Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH), unpacks these important questions.

Together, they will unpack the complex issues driving stigma and power imbalances in perinatal care and discuss concrete steps to foster stronger relationships and create healthier outcomes for marginalized and often overlooked populations. 

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Avis Favaro, Senior Advisor, Santis Health

Avis Favaro is an acclaimed medical journalist with decades of experience. As a Senior Advisor at Santis Health, Avis leverages her extensive background in uncovering and reporting on stories that matter to Canadians. Avis leads Santis' media and executive presence training programming. 

Dr. Martha Paynter, Associate Professor, University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Nursing

Dr. Martha Paynter has worked to advance abortion access in Canada for over twenty years. A writer, nurse and public scholar, she is recognized internationally for her expertise at the nexus of reproductive justice and prisoner health. 

She is an associate professor at the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Nursing, where her research addresses the health rights of people experiencing incarceration, as well as sexual and reproductive health care in Canada and around the world. 

Dr. Saraswathi Vedam, Lead Investigator, Birth Place Lab, Professor of Midwifery, University of British Columbia

Dr. Saraswathi Vedam is Lead Investigator of the Birth Place Lab and Professor of Midwifery  at the University of British Columbia. She has been a clinician and a health professional educator for over 30 years in which she has successfully coordinated multi-stakeholder community-led research projects in provincial and national settings. Her research focuses on improving maternity care through national and provincial studies examining birth preferences, respectful care, and inequities affecting marginalized communities.